Auto Body metal working

I got a chance to do a little playing this weekend. A trip to the auto supply turned up a Dupli-Color spray can in Oxford white for something to play with. I took my Porter Cable random orbit sander with 220 grit paper(the finest I could find for it) and sanded down some areas that needed touched up. The sand paper was quite aggressive right at first but after a little wear it seemed OK. After sanding and feathering I wet sanded with

320, then dried and cleaned everything. I shot some self etching primer on the areas that got to bare metal. Cleaned off everything with wax remover and sprayed a few coats of paint.

After drying there was a dry area around the area I sprayed, I wet sanded that area with 1500 until it felt smooth. Then I used rubbing compound with a wool bonnet on a DeWalt 849 polisher/buffer and polished it all smooth and glossy. It's difficult to tell what is new paint and what is old paint as far as transition but the area with new paint has no chips or other imperfections.

I guess the bottom line would be that it would be better to fix it all and spray it all, just like JR said. But I was wanting to learn about blending in an area by sanding and polishing and it seemed to work well enough. That would be useful for a chip or scratch in a vehicle that doesn't need a paint job. My truck that I'm practicing on is a 92 F-350 Diesel that started as an FS truck and was then used in a landscape business, so it's scratched and dinged all over, except the couple of places I touched it up :-) The truck seems to have been kept up mechanically and drive train but the body has been somewhat neglected.

I'm wanting to get a little bondo practice with it, a little more touch up, and then I'll start trying to sell it. Then I may attempt to touch up scratches in my Ranger, it has metallic paint and clear coat and I'm sure will be somewhat more difficult to make a touch up look right.

RogerN

Used almost exclusively by american manufacturers - and very extensively in automotive refinishing shops across North America and Europe.

Here's a weird idea, could you use a computer scanner for paint matching? Scan some of the original paint, get an average CYMK or similar reading on an area, get some readings scanning base colors and figure out how much of what to mix, try a sample, read with scanner, adjust for better match... May have a lot of trouble with metalics or candy colors though.

A scanner uses CCFL tubes which are not the best choice for color rendition. A good automotive paint store can use a color corrected system to match the paint, or you can take your chances by using the Vehicle's OEM paint number.

My local hardware store...ACE does just that. Bring in something you want matched, they scan it, and the system automatically dispenses the various paints into the proper color and shade.

Its actually pretty damned accurate, based on some of the machines Ive repainted recently

Gunner

I think it'll be a long time before a machine does a better job than a real artist. But it'll do a damn better job than me -- I'm color blind!

Already have such an animal in paint stores everywhere. Basically a spectrometer hooked to a computer, tells how much of what to squirt into the base. Or they can look up the OEM paint number on the build sticker and go from that in the built-in database. Downside to that is that you'll get the factory-new color, not what it's been faded out to right now. One reason to redo whole panels instead of just spots, unless you like the "leopard" look. And it's really hard to spot-fix clear-coat jobs. Can be done, but takes a LOT of skill.

Spray can paint will last, at most, a couple of years on a car before it fades, chalks or peels. Not worth doing for a really big spot. It just doesn't have what it takes to survive automotive use. DAMHIK

Stan

Here is the cheapest way to paint your vehicle that I can think of.

I don't know of any rocket guys using vinyl ester. I'm just barely aware of the product. As I said, most if not all of them use epoxy. Worth noting: the hobbyists who do high-power rocketry are *not* necessarily technologically savvy. Some of the best rocket motors and rockets I've ever seen were constructed by a friend who has a GED and runs a welding shop in his real job.

Best -- Terry

Aha. Well, working with reinforced materials requires a combination of technical knowledge and a LOT of hands-on experience. The latter is more important than the former, so a hobbyist who does a lot of it ought to make out well in the end.

I love working with it, but part of the satisfaction comes from dealing with its contrariness. The reason I don't do more is that, so far, I've avoided becoming sensitized to epoxy, and I want to keep it that way; and the styrene and other nasties in polyester can make me wheeze after a full day of working inside of a boat hull. It presents some health hazards when you work with large quantities.

And then, there is the fact that the day I started working for Ranger (then owned by Bangor-Punta), a 50-something guy in the shop next door, where they made Luhrs boats, died from silicosis, after 20 years of working in an atmosphere of ground fiberglass dust.

That's awesome! A rolled on rustoleum paint job that looks good, and in the pictures 3 years later it still looks good. If I get enough energy I may have to get some rollers and paint my whole truck!

RogerN

Did you check out the 3D pictures he has on the site? Those are neat.

I started playing with the Geo Prizm/Toyota Corolla that my wife crashed early this year. I got the body straight enough I can at least get the fuel cap open now, and I got the rear wheel somewhat aligned, she had the control arm bent into a nice arch. If I can get the bumper back together and the tail/turn lights replaced then the car should be once again ready to drive on the road. I find all the reinfocement parts for the front bumper but I need the rear bumper. Should I put a pipe bumper on the car and cover it with the bumper cover? I'm getting frustrated finding every part I don't need and no parts I do need, it seems they only expect you to damage the front bumper. This crash involved my wife swerving while a truck coming the other way hit her rear bumper, smashing the rear quarter panel and ripping off the bumper & tail lights.

Should I look for rear bumper parts from a dealer, junk yard, or fabricate my own from steel? I can spend the $150 for a new rear bumper cover but internet searches haven't show any rear bumper parts other than the plasitc cover.

RogerN

That's what the dealer is for - or the hotline at the local wreckers.

HMM, I just pulled up about 75 rear bumpers with covers within 100 miles of my shop in NY.

Which year do you need? 94-97 are interchangeable. Color?

How about state and close zip. I can punch it into Mitchell and see what shows for that area.

OR try Car-Part.com Enter the year make and model, then for the part you want to search for Bumper Assy (Rear) includes cover.

I have just been searching in Google but keep getting auto parts stores that don't seem to have the parts I need. In the wreck my wife was swerving to avoid a head on and the truck hit the rear quarter panel, smashing it flat, and tore the bumper off from the side.

I am in Southern Illinois at zip code 62832. The color is white, but I don't mind painting if I can find the right paint for the plastic bumper cover. Do distant scrap yards ship parts? I'm hoping to find something close.

Right now I'm pricing to see if it's worth fixing but I did get it drivable but not legal without the bumper and tail lights. I found people wanting to buy it for $175 for scrap but I can take it to the recycler myself. Just seem a shame to waste a good car over a bumper, rear quarter panel, and tail lights.

I've been bending the smashed quarter panel back into shape with a 4-ton hydraulic porta power type body straightened. I have the metal functionally in place, might need some tweaks to hold the tail light correctly.

Thanks

RogerN

Most yards will ship parts. The catch is usually the cost.

Paint isn't a problem IF you have a small gun. You simply buy the correct color and a small amount of additive that makes the paint flexible. You can also usually buy the paint with additive in spray cans at some places.

Well I found a few around you.

(Pocahonas) shows a couple. $200

(Decatur) has a couple. $185-210

(Armington location) shows they have one with paint problems for 60 bucks. Stock# E2962 A2124

They probably have 1/4s as well. Didn't look.

Yeah getting a proper fit can sometimes be interesting. Usually I cheat and just cut away all the really bad stuff and weld in new. Replacing a complete 1/4 isn't all that bad IF you plan ahead and mark/cut gently.

Hope it helps.

Thanks, I saw Nance's is about 50 miles away and also lists quarter panel and tail lights for my car. If I can make one trip and get everything I need for the car it would be great. It's not that important to me that the car be cosmetically good as it is mechanically sound an reliable. I dedicate a car for work and it gets the miles and dirt, so this one with a banged up body would make a perfect work car and is in better condition and runs better than my Honda Civic.

RogerN

Do the HVLP guns help with overspray/cover with less paint, by any noticeable amount? I have a descent old school gun I got from a mechanics yard sale, plus I have a Badger detail touch up gun and an air brush (150IL), pretty good stuff in its day. I would prefer to spray than sand a bunch of coats, I'm tempted to order these:

I like the metal cups, some of the reviews of he HF guns said the plastic threads stripped out on the cup, thought maybe the metal cups wouldn't strip so easily.

I don't have any bondo goodies either, I guess I need a cheese grater type bondo file and an inline sander. It's kind of fun having old autos that I can learn on and not be afraid to mess up. I've gotten the quarter panel from flattened out to having a shape that resembles the shape of the original body, but it isn't pretty.

RogerN